I haven’t been updating much lately because life has been in a holding pattern – just not much to talk about, nor much time to do the talking.  So here’s what’s up with JH:

• Working.  As discussed previously, I don’t want to widely advertise what I’m doing or for whom, mostly because there are too many nutjobs out there, I tend to attract more than my share because I’ve got a big mouth and a bad attitude, and I just don’t feel like having some freak who doesn’t like what I have to say trying to cause trouble at my place of work.  But, I am working again, finally, and have a little money in my pocket….although not very much.  Still, by the end of my ‘week’ Sunday or Monday, I should have a much better idea of how long it’s going to take me to get fully back up on my own two feet, and in what condition I’ll find myself when I get there.  It’ll be a long, slow climb no matter what I do…but it’ll be *my* climb this time, and success or failure will belong completely to me – no flaky friends breaking promises, no opportunists looking for a scapegoat, no business partners with surprise IRS debts, etc.  That said:  I doubt anything new of note will be happening in the next couple of months.  Right now it’s nose-to-the-grindstone time, just getting some steady cash coming in and getting myself situated, and so that’s where a lot of my energy is going right now.  I have a lot of projects and plans, but they all take money, not to mention the money it takes to live day to day.  New ideas come all the time, and eventually I’ll have the time AND cash to start dealing with them. 
  
  Right now, though, I’m just dealing with getting used to working again and trying to figure out what my income’s gonna look like.
  
• Baby:  Kaleigh, the world’s first third-generation LowGenius, arrived with a thud on August 4th around 8pm.  NINE pounds.  And one ounce.  My own beloved spawn has decided that reproducing is not nearly as much fun as all those pregnancy magazines make it out to be.  The new edition, of course, looks like me and Amber.  This is because my genes curbstomp every other chain of chromosomes they come into contact with
  
• Personal but not private to Chad and Cherri – I’ll be in touch sometime early next week about getting that camera adapter taken care of.  There are so many great places to cut rants around here…I’m definitely going to be going nuts with the camcorder in short order.
  
• Life continues.  I’m still at the stage (which I never even got out of in California) where it still hits me regularly:  I’m finally HOME.  I finally made it back to Kalamazoo.  So much has changed – I just barely recognize Westnedge between Kilgore and Milham any more, among many other things – but it’s still home, as I knew it would be.  The local music scene appears to be in pretty depressing shape.  I think there are a lot of factors at play there, and it’s not totally dead, but it’s sure not 1991 here anymore.  But…things continue to happen, and I’m not the only ‘old-school’ musician from ‘the local scene back in the day’ who’s either still around or just got back.  The next couple of years will be VERY interesting.
  
• I’m short on time.  Generally speaking I’ll be working 12 hours a day (6pm to 6am) five days a week (I *think* Tues-Sat, but maybe Wed-Sun), so I’m not going to be on Facebook, or here, or WOW, or anywhere else very much over the next few weeks.  Just getting adjusted to having a schedule again is going to take a couple of weeks :P  But I’ll be around as time allows.
  
• As screwed up as my life has been for the last couple of months, I’m still happier, more centered, more at peace with myself and my surroundings, and more emotionally stable than I’ve ever been in my life. 
  
• It’s been pointed out to me that I do a lot of bitching.  As reality and the ‘net collide more and more frequently, it becomes more meaningful to say that anyone who knows me knows that I don’t bitch and moan all the time.  They also know that I *do* tend to rant, have strong opinions, and am generally willing to speak my mind when I find it necessary or potentially productive to do so.  So I just wanted to squeeze in a little look inside the magician’s hat for a minute – break my own kayfabe, as they used to say in the rasslin’ business – and say that I’m really not this brooding bitching pissed off guy all the time.  The way I cut my videos or the way I write rants here are…not an act or a gimmick, but they’re intended for public consumption.  People are starting to notice the sort of taglines and catchphrases that I use in my videos, and those especially are intended to present one band of the spectrum of my personality, with certain aspects amplified or enhanced for the sake of what I hope is entertaining, thought-provoking, and all that good stuff.  But, outside of a 7-11 in SLC, I don’t go walking around into 7-11’s going “YA KNOW THERE’S A FEW THINGS ABOUT SLURPEES THAT REALLY PISS ME OFF…”
  
  That said, my head has shifted places several times since I left NC in May.  There are so many things that I’ve been talking about for years that now I can show people through this site and other efforts.  I can realistically expect to have drums and a guitar fairly soon – before the end of the year, certainly – and so that creativity will start flowing again.  A big issue is time, and my job requires a lot of time spent not doing much of anything; I’m going to invest in a laptop, and that will help maximize my temporal efficiency.  (And no, it won’t create a problem with the job.)
  
• I’ve been meeting some interesting people, learning more about what life is like in Kalamazoo 2009, and generally busting my butt trying to get my feet under me.  As always my deepest thanks and appreciation to my friends who helped me get back here and who are helping me get back on my feet.  There’s much more to be said on this and many other points, but for now….I gotta get back to the carrot chase as I attempt once again to have something resembling a life.